Territory



to hoist and lower them.

'UNiTEn sTETEs PATENT oEEicE.

W'. WEBSTER. OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, TASHINGTON TERRITORY.

MASTING- AND RIGGING- VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,673, dated June 22, 1858i.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WEBSTER, of Jefferson county, in theTerritory of )Fashington, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Method of Rigging Vessels; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a correct description of the same,

reference being had to the accomp-anying drawings, in which- Figure l,is a side view of a foremast rigged according to my improved plan. Fig.2, is a view of the truss band and lift band of the lower yard. Fig. 3,is a view of the truss band and lift band of the topsail yard. Fig. 4 isa bottom view of the lift band Fig. 3, enlarged. Fig. 5, is a top viewof the truss band Fig. 2. Fig. '6, is a. top View of t-he truss bandFig. 3.

The same part is indicated by the same letter of reference in all thefigures.

My invention consists in a new mode of making and rigging the masts andyards of vessels of all sizes, as hereinafter more particularlydescribed.

In the drawings, A marks the mast; B, the foreyard; C the topsail yard;D the bowsprit; E, the truss band of the lower yard; F, the lift band ofthe same; G, the truss band of the topsail yard; H, the lift band of thesame; I, shrouds; J, the forestays; K, K, lifts; L L, topsail ties; M,slings of lower yard; N, yard bands; O, halyards.; P, annular sheave oftopsail yard.

a, marks the hinge bolts of truss bands; the screw or clamp bolts oftruss bands; c, pivot bolt connecting yard band, N, to mast band; d,screw bolts of lift bands;e, hinge bolts of lift bands; f, slide rods oflift bands; g, shackle bolts for prevention shroud; h, shackle bolts forslings of lower yard.

The masts I make of one piece of timber, as represented in the drawing.Ships masts are now made of three or four pieces, by doublings, whichnecessitates a great deal of top hamper to secure and hold these piecesin place, and cumbrous contrivances This top weight involves a decreasein the length of the spars, and in the spread of the canvas. It is alsoan important element in the cost of a ship. An abundance of sticks long,straight, and large enough for a ships mainmast, and of the propermaterial, can be obtained on the north west coast of the United States,and probably in many other portions of the world. For smaller vessels,sticks of proper dimensions are everywhere readily obtained. The mast,thus formed, is secured to the hull by wire shrouds, placed at anunusually large angle with the mast, and so arranged that the lower endsof the after shrouds of the foremast, will be immediately contiguous tothose of the forward shrouds of the main mast, and so with the others. Aship, with masts and shrouds of this description, will carry With safetyone fourth more canvas than the ordinary amount, and will sail muchnearer to the wind.

I make the yards much longer than usual, and secure them to the masts byan improved form of truss band. These bands are hinged at (a) and haveclamp screws (b) to hold them at any desired position on the mast. Theyards are held in bands (N, N &c.) hinged to pivot bolt (c), whichrotates in an enlarged portion of the mast bands, as clearly shown inFigs. 5, and 6. This mode of attachment allows motion to be given to theyards in every required direction.

The lifts K are attached to the lift bands, F and H, which are clampedto the mast by screw bolts (CZ), at the proper distance above theirrespective yards. The hinge bolts e, e, of these lift bands have eyes attheir lower ends, to which the chain slings, L L, of the yards, arehooked. There are also, on the sides of these lift bands, slide rods (f,f,), to which the lift-s are attached by a ring, loose enough to movealong the rods as the yard traverses in either direction.

The bands N, N, of the topsail yards, (Figs. 3 and 6), are slit for thereception of an annular sheave, (P), which receives the topsail yard,and which may be rotated in the band as the sheave of a common pulley isrotated by a rope in its groove. On the sides of the bands E and G, areshackle bolts g, g, &c. for the passage of the prevention shrouds. Justinside the hinge of the lift bands, are grooves for the passage of theties L, but they may be omitted if preferred, and the ties attached tothe lift band at top and bottom, as shown at. H Fig. 1. The ties andslings are hooked to shackle bolts h, h, in the top of the bands. Theyards work inside the shrouds, and can be hoisted up, or lowered downupon the rail, by means of the halyards, O, as readily as sails arecommonly hoisted and lowered; and when on the rail, can be pointednearly fore and aft. The topsail yard may be rotated on its axis bymeans of the sheave, P, as before mentioned.

I make the boWsprit, D, to run inboard, through the center of the stem.It is shown in this position in Fig. l. IVhen it is thus run in, and theyards lowered, the ship will presentv to the action of the wind onlythree bare poles, and a few small Wire shrouds.

I do not support or connect the masts by stays as in ordinary ships,relying upon the great inclination 0f the shrouds to give them therequired stability. Nor do I connect the bowspritto the foremast byanything more than a small cord, which can be severed in an instant,when required, and which would yield of itself to a much smaller forcethan would suffice to carry away the bowsprit. The effect of thisarrangement is thatI the loss of one mast does not involve the loss ofthe others; and the common accident of carrying away the bowsprit doesnot endanger the masts.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim therein as newandI desire t-o secure by Letters Patent is the following devicesconstituting together a new system of rigging:

l. Substituting for the compound and connected masts now in use on largevessels. independent and disconnected masts made of a single stick oftimber, as and for the purpose described.

2. Attaching the masts to the hull by shrouds placed at the angle withthe mast as described and represented.

3. The truss bands for attaching the yards to the masts and holding themat any desircd point thereon constructed and operating as described.

Ll. The lift bands to which the lifts and slings are attachedconstructed and applied as described.

The above specilication signed and witnessed this 1st day of June A. D.1858.

WM. VEBSTER.

VVit-nesses:

R. T. CAMPBELL, CHAs. F. STANSBURY.

